Peirre Angleterre told me about a very cool tool to help you learn your music. I think someone has already mentioned it on Banter but I thought I'd drop you all a note with instructions on what to do if you would like to use it. This is very helpful for both chorus and principals to learn notes but obviously won't be any help in interpretation/expression as the internet unfortunately doesn't have a direct line to Fra's brain. Nonetheless I do recommend it for note bashing at home.
The files play all of the parts with different instruments. The karaoke player below enables you to make your part louder or you can mute all of the other parts to just hear yours to help you note bash harmonies. You can even see which keys in the piano would be pressed to sound the notes.
There are karaoke files for the whole show here:
math.boisestate.edu/GaS/mikado/webopera/index.html
To use them you will need to download a (free) karaoke player, available here:
www.vanbasco.com/karaokeplayer
More info (and alternatives for non-windows peeps) here:
math.boisestate.edu/GaS/karaoke/html/karaoke_home.html
You'll need to install the players (instructions on screen). It's very easy and painless and that's coming from a real technophobe. I even managed to do it without the assistance of my lovely personal IT consultant (Al).
Then save the karaoke files to disc. Double cick on the file to open up the directory. You'll need to tell windows to use the karaoke player to open them by remembering where on your hard drive you installed it. It's really very easy.